A Month of New Year’s Fashion Resolutions: Week 1, Reward your Closet

Not all of us have a closet as beautiful as Ms Carrie Bradshaw on the Sex and the City Movies, but we can develop systems that help your closet function better. Your closet is what holds your wardrobe, so reward it in the new year with a tidying up. I love cleaning and the very thought of getting rid of things makes me excited, except for when it comes to clothes. But, if you are honest with yourself on what you wear and what you don’t, what’s in-style and what just should never surface again, you can have a well balanced wardrobe going into the New Year. Resolve to clean out your closet by following these simple guidelines.

1. Out with the old in with reality:   If you haven’t worn something in 1 year, toss it out. Only save things longer than that if they are sentimental in value like a wedding dress or your Grandma’s favorite sweater from the 1940s. Invite a friend, or me, over to help with the process, sometimes audibly hearing yourself justify keeping something will help you discover you can throw it out! Make three piles while sorting your clothes: Wear, Donate, Keepsakes.

2. Sort it out: I like to sort my clothes by types: dresses, sweaters, cardigans, short-sleeve blouses, tank-tops, skirts, etc and then break them up by color in each of those categories so that stuff is easier to grab when I need to create a look. How ever you decide to sort your clothes, whether by season, material or outfit, find a system that works well with your personality and styling type.

3. Put basics together: There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find your favorite white tank top to toss under a sheer blouse when you are rushing out the door. Develop an area in your closet for your favorite basics from bras to tanks to socks.

4. Keep it clean: Hanging up my clothes at the end of the day is the last thing I really want to do, but I have found several things to be true: I sleep better with a tidy room and my clothes don’t need as much extra attention when they are hung up properly. You’ve worked hard to develop a good organized system keep it clean!

5. Looks can Deceive: (Warning: This point is where my OCD personality peeps out.) Get matching coat-hangers for you closet and make sure each hangs the right direction. If you have all white hangers, all facing the same direction the congruency will make your closet look deceptively more organized even if all your clothes are just thrown together.

Have a system that works great for you? We’d love to hear about it!

Check back next week for another New Year’s Fashion Resolution: Find your signature pieces!

Rebecca Alexander Pickrel, Fashion Editor and Contributor